A new face, and voice, was on the graduation stage at this year’s ceremonies. For the first time, Dr Suzanne Burke, Head of the Department, Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, served as UWI St Augustine’s Public Orator.
“It was a very fulfilling experience,” she says, “and of course a lot of hard work.”
The Public Orator acts as the voice of the university during public occasions. At the graduation ceremonies they write the citations for the honorary graduands and presents them to The UWI Chancellor.
Dr Burke has to interview, research, write, and then present at the ceremonies. It was, she says, an insightful experience.
“In talking to these people who have contributed so much, not just in Trinidad and the Caribbean, but of course globally, it was an insightful way of gaining an understanding about being Caribbean in the world,” she recalls. “They all talked about the way Trinidad, and to a larger extent the Caribbean, shaped them.”
